Dazi Does It!

Beautiful Ties at an Affordable price…that was Nate Ipsen’s dream. It’s quite different than my dream…which involves unicorns, lasers and the world’s greatest ninja. As you can imagine my dream has proved troublesome to bring into reality…But not Nate’s! He has realized his dream with his company Dazi pronounced {DAW-ZEE} – They make beautiful Neckties, Bowties and more. I had the opportunity to interview Nate, take a look:

So, you were once called Simply Skinny Ties, but you have recently changed your name to DAZI [daw-zee], why the name change? Also what does DAZI mean?

As the business has continued to grow, I decided it would be best to change the name of the company. I didn’t want to simply sell a product with a name on it. I have a strong desire to create a brand that people can be a part of, because our customers are what make our products so great. While brainstorming, we came across the word DASI which is Indonesian for “necktie”. We decided to switch the S to a Z to make it our own. DAZI [daw-zee]. You can read more about our name change here.

How did you decide on what the perfect tie width would be?

I didn’t want a tie that was so skinny it looked like a shoe lace or so fat that it looked like a bib. 2.5” seemed like the perfect skinny width to start at.

A lot of companies make ties, why go into such a competitive market for your first business venture?

I was personally frustrated at how hard it was to find a sharp looking skinny tie that was top-notch quality and didn’t cost an arm and a leg. I thought to myself, “If I can design a tie that I love, there’s bound to be other people out there willing to buy it too if I can sell at a lower price point.” I started with only 3 designs and have slowly grown from there, thanks to our awesome customers!

You know sell some pretty great looking watches, what made you decide to add time pieces to the menu?

Thank you. I have been obsessed with watches my whole life and I’ve had a dream of designing and selling them since I was in high school. Part of the reason we changed our name was so that we could include other great products among ties, so this felt like a great time to introduce watches to the lineup!

What’s the coolest thing you’ve purchased since becoming a successful business owner?

When I was first starting up, someone gave me some wise advice and told me to not take any money out of the business if I don’t need it. I’ve funded the whole company myself so I think it’s important to flush earnings back into the company so I can continue to grow. I haven’t bought anything super cool yet, but I can say I’ve purchased more ties than I ever thought I would in a lifetime!

I’m going to have to go with Tony Hawk since he has a video game named after him and I’ve never heard of Christian Hosoi… but I don’t know much about skateboarding!

You’re 23; do you feel your age gives you an advantage or disadvantage when it comes to connecting your brand with consumers?

The majority of our customers are 18-30 years old. Being within that range myself I feel like I have an advantage because I have a lot of friends who have helped grow my customer base as they spread the word among their friends. Without my close friends, my company probably wouldn’t exist today.

Do you have a favorite tie?

The floral ties have really grown to be my favorite (pun intended haha) and I think the Navy Blue Floral tie is my all time favorite. It takes a bold person to pull off a tie like that! It’s hard to keep the floral ties in stock, they’ve definitely been some of our most popular.

There is an element of fun that’s clearly evident in your ties, Instagram feed and website – why is that important to you?

I think it’s important to show people that we’re a fun brand in hopes that they’ll want to be a part of it. You can’t sell a product if the brand behind it doesn’t have a personality.

What has been the hardest or most unexpected part about running DAZI?

Going along with my previous answer above, it’s a lot easier said than done when it comes to creating a lifestyle behind your brand and products. It involves a lot of photography which I know nothing about. However my good friend Keith takes killer photos and has saved the day on a number of occasions.